Shhh. Don’t mention the “M” word (I did once, but I think I got away with it)!

ABBA. Greatest band of all time.[1] Who can forget that classic, “money, money, money”? A deep, thought-provoking piece of prose about what one could do if one was rich. Why, one may ask, are you talking about ABBA? Good question. Essentially, I thought was a funny picture of seventies hair and I needed to find a way of shoehorning it into the blog.

The “M” word

A good friend and sort of mentor of mine is Stuart Murray-Williams. He has a book all about why tithing is not biblical (well worth a read) and so is often asked to come into churches to speak on the subject. He would always start by asking everyone to turn to the person next to them and tell them:

How much you earned last year.

How much you spent on leisure last year.

How much you gave away last year.

Uncomfortable, anyone? I will pause for a bit while you all go and work those figures out…[2]

…all done?

Then I shall continue.

We do not like talking about money, do we? We place value on ourselves and on others based on earnings. We can be jealous of others for earning more or owning more or doing more.

The most misquoted passage in the Bible (1 Tim 6:10) does not say, “money is the root of all evil”. What is actually says is this: “The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil”

That is a bit different. Money is a thing. It is neither good nor evil, but we ascribe it power when we begin to love it and even worship it, because then it has become an idol. When something becomes an idol then it has authority over us and we can become its slave. When we become slaves to money then it becomes a root of evil within us.

The first sign that this is the case is that we do not want to talk about it. We do not want anyone else knowing what we spent on ourselves. We do not want anyone knowing what we give away. We do not want to feel as though we are inferior to someone because they earn more money than us. Because it has power over us and it is not supposed to.

So, from the outset, let us put aside the awkwardness of talking about money and break the power that it has over us. It only has power over us if we let it, and we should have power over it.

What Else Does the Bible Say About Money?

What you will often hear taught is “tithing” – which means giving 10% of what you earn to the church. I have issues with this.

There are only four references in the NT (Matt 23:23, Luke 11:42, Luke 18:12, Hebrews 7:5-10) and all of Jesus’ comments about it are negative and none are about money.

Tithing in the OT (which is where it comes from) actually requires two different annual 10% tithes of your produce (Deuteronomy 12 and 14) and one three-yearly 10% tithe (Deuteronomy 26), which averages out at 23.3%, not 10%. It is worth noting that the three yearly one was the first known “tax”in the whole of history that was exclusively for the poor.

Gordon Fee suggests that “tithing is biblical, but not Christian” and that it is “a system set up to limit generosity”.

For the first 300 years of the church, people just gave radically and “there were no needy among them” (Acts 2:42-47, Acts 4:32-37). In fact one Roman emperor was furious with the Christians because “not only do they look after their own poor, but they look after ours too” which made them popular and difficult to persecute.

It was only at the time that the Empire and church became one, and it was law to go to church, that Augustine said, in a meeting of bishops, “we are never going to get this half-converted bunch of pagans to give radically, why don’t we resurrect the teaching on tithing?”

Apart from that, I think that tithing is brilliant.

So what does the Bible say? I think that the New Testament teaching community and genuine fellowship. I think that it teaches that no one should be in need in our community. I think that it teaches that we are part of a family together and give, according to our means (1 Corinthians 16:2), to that family so that it an be distributed to those in need and contribute to the running of that family.

There are two key concepts. First, if we have more than we need then we give it to those who do not have enough (Luke 3:11) and secondly, we should seek to give radically and sacrificially (Acts 2 and 4, above).

If worship (proskuneo) means prostrating ourselves and offering everything we have to our saviour, the money must be front and centre of that. In fact, the prophet Malachi says that to not do so it to rob God (Malachi 3:8-10). That is actually a bit scary to think that, by withholding our giving, we are stealing from the creator and saviour of the world. The fact is that it belongs to him – everything belongs to him because, “the earth is the Lord’s and everything in it” (Psalm 24:1).

Why Does it Matter?

Because if we cannot give him back his money, then we have a problem. It has become and idol and is exerting power over us. It is his money. He has given it to us to look after. Wimber used to say that there are two conversions, the conversion of the heart and the conversion of the wallet. Rich Nathan (one of the Vineyard (US) leaders) said that giving is the key marker of discipleship. I think that there is some truth in that, particularly in a Western World that is so enslaved by materialism and greed and “stuff”, being free to live differently from that is huge. Mammon is a demonic god and we should not be enslaved by it.

Often, I have heard it said that if you give generously, then God will bless you. I think that is total, utter, manipulative tosh. God will always bless you, but if you worship another god then that god has power over you and you will not be free. Jesus wants you to be free. It may be that if you freed from slavery to money then you will be more able to receive his blessing, but let’s be clear, his love is never conditional!

Where Should it Go?

As I said, the New Testament knows nothing of individualism. It is all about community. We live in community. We share our lives in common with each other. My understanding of this is that there is a common “pot” for the community. Out of that pot, we have to pay for bills, venues, staff and administration – its not an option not to in this day and age – but what the pot is for is to give to those in need, to reach out, to help us to grow in understanding, to train us to be part of seeing the kingdom extended.

In summary, the first place the money goes is the community you are part of, so this community can do work as a body together to bring about change. But then, in addition to this, you should seek to give your excess to those who need it.

How Much Should I Give?

10% is just not helpful. If you have four kids then 10% is very much harder than 10% for someone with no kids. If you bought your house in the 90s before the prices went crazy then 10% is easier than someone who lives in an identical house but bought it twenty years later. 10% is meaningless. 10% in the OT meant 10% of the produce of your land; land that was evenly distributed among the people! Percentages do not help. For some, 10% is nothing, for others, it is unreachable. There have been times in my life when I have been able to give as much as 20% and other times when I cannot manage 10%.

If you have nothing then you should be receiving, not giving – until you are in a place that you can give.

Ultimately, I don’t know. How much is radical? How much is sacrificial? Ask the people around you what they think. If you choose to live on the edge of your means and cannot afford to give, then you may need to make some choices to enable you to give. Honestly, I can advise you, but it is not my place to say how much you should give. It is your place, before your saviour, and in community, to ask him what you owe him.

Hidden Agendas

I actually love teaching about money, because I think that it is one of the biggest single powers that rules our culture and as such, for people to be able to live radically is astonishingly freeing. However, in the past, I have always taught on money when the church did not need any, because I never want it to feel as though I am manipulating people. As a result, I have not taught on it for three years, because money has been tight for SVC.

However, I have been challenged by a couple of pastors that it is not my right to not teach on something because it is awkward. My fear of being perceived as being manipulative is not a reason to withhold the challenge and the opportunity for people to learn and move on in their discipleship, and to be freed from the grip of money.

So here it is. In the next few days, Matt Cope, as chair of trustees, will be publishing the current situation and how and why things have changed over the last few years. The bottom line is that we are struggling as an ongoing situation, and with my trustee’s hat on, that concerns me, but what concerns me more, with my pastor’s hat on, is the issue of people’s discipleship and the need for people to give radically for their own sake. As Paul says to the Philippians, “My concern is that you should have a healthy profit balance showing up on your account.”[3] Like him, I really want people to be free, and it is hard as we get older and get better jobs and bigger houses and better cars, to not get caught up in serving false gods because that is normal in our culture.

So, go away, look at those figures from earlier – earning, giving and leisure – and ask God whether that is okay by him. Ask the people in your housegroup if they think that is okay?

Whatever you do, don’t mention the “M” word!

[1] This is, in fact, objectively, true! You disagree? Okay, I will tell you why. ABBA was a “pop” band (as in “popular”). The point of a popular band is to be popular, and everyone likes ABBA. You might hate the fact that you do like them, but you know that you do like them!

[2] For this year, so far, our personal income has been just under £30,000 (which includes other sources than church); Our food bill for a family of six (and now seven, with Rebecca) has been around £12,000 (I know! It shocked me too). We have spent around £4,500 on leisure (which includes flying back and forth to Northern Ireland, eating out, waterskiing etc.) and we have given away around £2,300, which is much lower than we want to be giving but we have struggled this year.

[3] Philippians 4:17 (Kingdom New Testament translation). Note that this comment is specifically in the context of talking about the church’s giving to his ministry.